HONOLULU, September 17 — The pier at Coast Guard Base Honolulu filled with familiar faces Tuesday as the crew of Coast Guard Cutter Joseph Gerczak stepped off after 52 days at sea, closing out a patrol that stretched more than 7,500 nautical miles across the Pacific. The 154-foot Sentinel-class fast response cutter left Honolulu in July and made port calls in the Republic of the Marshall Islands, Fiji, and American Samoa.
Its mission fell under Operation Blue Pacific, the Coast Guard Oceania District’s multi-mission effort to promote security, safety, sovereignty, and economic prosperity in Oceania.
Boardings alongside Pacific partners
Working with Pacific Island partners, the Gerczak crew exercised bilateral maritime law enforcement agreements with the Republic of the Marshall Islands and Fiji. Together they conducted 29 bilateral maritime law enforcement boardings and eight high-seas boardings in support of Operation Island Chief, a coordinated effort to detect and combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing. The numbers tell only part of it.
In Majuro, crew members played sports with local youth and students from the College of the Marshall Islands. In American Samoa, they led a seamanship showcase with community leaders and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration officers.
“My crew and I are very proud of this patrol,” said Lt. Andrew Loeffler, commanding officer of Coast Guard Cutter Joseph Gerczak. “The crew’s dedication to fostering these important partnerships is vital in building a more secure and prosperous Pacific. I’m extremely proud of the crew’s continued professionalism, proficiency and unrelenting courage during this patrol.”
What the patrol was for
Operation Blue Pacific sends cutters, aircrew, and personnel throughout Oceania to maintain unrestricted, lawful access to the maritime domain for all nations, improve regional stability, and solidify the Coast Guard as a reliable partner for maritime safety, security, and stewardship in the Pacific. The Joseph Gerczak is homeported in Honolulu. Its primary missions are maritime law enforcement, search and rescue, and national defense.
For the islands that hosted the crew this summer, the partnerships built in Majuro, Fiji, and American Samoa are the part of the patrol that outlasts the wake. Watch whether the bilateral boarding tempo with the Marshall Islands and Fiji holds through the next rotation.
